Remote antenna system

ABSTRACT

Various methods, apparatuses, and systems are described in which a WAP is coupled to an antenna unit and provides a wireless LAN. In one embodiment, the antenna unit includes at least one remote antenna circuit having one or more ports to receive a control signal and a transmit signal transmitted from the WAP located in a multi-tone transmitter-receiver. Each remote antenna circuit includes a transmit amplifier unit that amplifies the transmit signal, a receive amplifier unit that amplifies a receive signal, and control unit that receives the control signal. The control unit controls an operation of the transmit and the receive amplifier units to extend a range of the wireless WAP with the at least one remote antenna circuit.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to and hereby claims the prioritybenefit of commonly-owned and co-pending U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/793,090, entitled “NETWORK INTERFACE DEVICE” filedApr. 18, 2006.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

Embodiments of the disclosure generally relate to telecommunicationsystems used to provide broadband access. More particularly, an aspectof an embodiment of the disclosure relates to providing broadband accesswith a remote antenna system.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Typically, telecommunication systems that provide broadband access tocustomers contain a multi-tone transmitter-receiver such as aresidential gateway. The residential gateway consists of a xDSL (anytype of digital subscriber line generally communicated over copperlines) modem or xPON (any type of passive optical network generallycommunicated over optic fibers) interface combined with various localarea networking (LAN) technologies to enable sharing the broadbandaccess with other computers or devices within the residence or building.Wireless local area network standards and home phone line networking(HPNA) are examples of such LAN technologies.

A wireless LAN or WLAN is a wireless local area network, which is thelinking of two or more computers without using wires. WLAN utilizesspread-spectrum technology based on radio waves to enable communicationbetween devices in a limited area, also known as the basic service set.This gives users the mobility to move around within a broad coveragearea and still be connected to the network. A wireless access point(WAP) provides a wireless LAN by connecting to an Ethernet hub orswitch. Each access point is a base station that transmits a radiofrequency (RF) signal over a radius of some distance.

Typically the residential or DSL communication gateway is coupled to orincludes a WAP which is located inside a building. However, it isdesirable to locate the residential gateway and WAP at the networkinterface device (NID) outside the building. A NID is the point ofdemarcation between an Unbundled Network Element (UNE) loop and the enduser's inside wire. Reasons for desirability of locating the residentialgateway and WAP at the NID include to provide simplified installationwiring and to eliminate the need to have the user home when the bulk ofinstallation occurs. Further, as fiber to the neighborhood rolls out,integration will be easier if the active electronics are already presentat the NID. Also, installation practices can be merged between xPON andxDSL systems such that the primary network termination is the meredifference.

However, a significant problem in trying to locate the WAP at a NIDlocated outside a building is the problem of transmitting the wirelesssignal through the walls of the building which significantly attenuatesthe wireless RF signal. Alternatively, current schemes for locating theWAP inside a building suffer from transferring the RF signal via coaxialcable into the building. The coaxial cable and associated splittersintroduce a high signal loss at typical Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 industrial, scientific, and medical(ISM) RF bands.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Various methods, apparatuses, and systems are described in which a WAPis coupled to an antenna unit and provides a wireless LAN. In oneembodiment, the antenna unit includes one or more remote antennacircuits having one or more ports to receive a control signal and atransmit signal transmitted from the WAP located in a multi-tonetransmitter-receiver. Each remote antenna circuit includes a transmitamplifier unit that amplifies the transmit signal, a receive amplifierunit that amplifies a receive signal, and control unit that receives thecontrol signal. The control unit controls an operation of the transmitand receive amplifier units to extend a range of the wireless WAP withthe one or more remote antenna circuits.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings refer to embodiments of the disclosure in which:

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a central officecontaining a Digital Subscriber Loop Access Multiplexer sendingcommunications across an Unbundled Network Element (UNE) loop to anetwork interface device having a multi-tone transmitter-receiver with aWAP.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a multi-tonetransmitter-receiver having a WAP being coupled to an antenna circuitthat extends a range of the WAP.

FIG. 3A shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a WAP located in amulti-tone transmitter-receiver.

FIG. 3B shows a block diagram of an embodiment of an antenna circuitthat extends a range of the WAP.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of control unit located inan antenna circuit that extends a range of a WAP.

FIG. 5A shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a WAP located in acommunication gateway.

FIG. 5B shows a block diagram of an embodiment of an antenna circuitthat extends a range of the WAP.

FIG. 6 shows a method for providing a wireless LAN with a WAP.

While the disclosure is subject to various modifications and alternativeforms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example inthe drawings and will herein be described in detail. The disclosureshould be understood to not be limited to the particular formsdisclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover allmodifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spiritand scope of the disclosure.

DETAILED DISCUSSION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth,such as examples of specific signals, named components, connections,number of windings in a transformer, example voltages, etc., in order toprovide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. It will beapparent, however, to one of ordinary skill in the art that the presentdisclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, well known components or methods have not been described indetail but rather in a block diagram in order to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring the present disclosure. The specific details set forth aremerely exemplary. Further specific numeric references such as a firstconverter, may be made. However, the specific numeric reference shouldnot be interpreted as a literal sequential order but rather interpretedthat the first converter is different than a second converter. Thus, thespecific details set forth are merely exemplary. The specific detailsmay be varied from and still be contemplated to be within the spirit andscope of the present disclosure. The term coupled is defined as meaningconnected either directly to the component or indirectly to thecomponent through another component.

In general, various apparatuses and methods are described in which a WAPlocated in a wide area network communication gateway is coupled to anantenna unit in order to provide a wireless LAN. In at least certainembodiments, the antenna unit includes at least one antenna circuithaving one or more ports to receive a control signal and a transmitsignal transmitted from the WAP. Each antenna circuit includes atransmit amplifier unit that amplifies the transmit signal, a receiveamplifier unit that amplifies a receive signal, and control unit thatreceives the control signal. The control unit controls an operation ofthe transmit and the receive amplifier units to extend a range of theWAP with the antenna unit.

In one embodiment, the control unit includes detector logic to detect astate of a bit in the control signal transmitted from the WAP. Thecontrol signal controls the operation of the transmit and receiveamplifier units with the transmit and receive signals operating onsubstantially the same frequency band.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a central officecontaining a Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM) sendingcommunications across an Unbundled Network Element (UNE) loop to anetwork interface device having a multi-tone transmitter-receiver with aWAP. A NID is the point of demarcation between the UNE loop and the enduser's inside wire. The DSLAM 102 sends communications to the NID 104located outside a building 110. The NID 104 includes a multi-tonetransmitter-receiver 106 that routes various types of communications,such as data, voice, and video, into the building 110. The multi-tonetransmitter-receiver may include one of a DSL modem, a cable modem, anoptical fiber, a satellite modem, Ethernet, a coaxial cable datainterface such as Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) or HPNA, and awireless metropolitan area network in order to route the various typesof communications which are sent to an antenna unit 112, television 130,and phone 120.

The antenna unit 112 includes one or more remote antenna circuit (RAC)with each RAC including one or more ports to receive a control signaland a transmit signal transmitted from the WAP 108 located in themulti-tone transmitter-receiver 106. Each RAC has a transmit amplifierunit that amplifies the transmit signal, a receive amplifier unit thatamplifies a receive signal, and control unit that receives the controlsignal. The control unit controls an operation of the transmit andreceive amplifier units to extend a range of the WAP 108 with theantenna unit 112.

In one embodiment, the multi-tone transmitter-receiver includes aresidential gateway that is coupled to the antenna unit 112 via acoaxial line. In another embodiment, the multi-tone transmitter-receiver106 includes a wide area network (WAN) modem that is coupled to theantenna unit 112 via a coaxial line. The WAN modem is located in the NID104 that is located outside of the building 110. In some embodiments,the antenna unit 112 is located inside of the building 110 and thecoaxial line is routed through the building. One or more RACs may belocated in various rooms, levels, or floors of building 110.

In certain embodiments, the antenna unit 112 transmits 802.11 RFfrequencies throughout the building 110 to various wireless devices 140,142, and 144. A wireless device receives the 802.11 RF frequencies andalso transmits back to the RAC 112 a communication that is sent from theantenna unit 112 to the WAP 106 to the DSLAM 102 in order to access thepublic telephone network or other wide or local area networks.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a multi-tonetransmitter-receiver having a WAP being coupled to an antenna circuitthat extends a range of the WAP. The WAP 212 includes a radio 220, adiplexer 226, a control signal generator 230, and amplifiers 224 and228.

In at least certain embodiments, the radio 220 generates a RF transmitsignal 222 with a frequency range of 2 to 6 GigaHertz (GHz). Thetransmit signal 222 is sent from the radio 220 to the amplifier 224 tothe diplexer 226 which also receives a control signal 218 that has beengenerated by the control signal generator 230. The diplexer 226 combinesthe transmit signal 222 and the control signal 218 and sends thesesignals to the node 242 for transmission to an antenna circuit 250 if aswitch 240 which may be a semiconductor device has been switched to atransmit position by contacting the node 242.

The antenna circuit 250 has one or more ports 251 to receive the controlsignal 218 and the transmit signal 222 transmitted from the WAP 212 viaone or more ports 243 of the multi-tone transmitter-receiver 210. Theantenna circuit 250 includes a diplexer 258, a transmit amplifier unit270 to amplify the transmit signal 222, a receive amplifier unit 260 toamplify a receive signal 261, and control unit 280 to receive thecontrol signal 218. The control unit 280 controls an operation of thetransmit amplifier unit 270 and the receive amplifier unit 260 to extenda range of the WAP 212 with the antenna circuit 250. The control unit280 may include a control signal detector or demodulator to detect thecontrol signal 218.

The diplexer 258 sends the control signal 218 to the control unit 280and the transmit signal 222 to a node 253. If a transmit/receive switch252 contacts node 256 then the transmit signal 222 is received by thetransmit amplifier unit 270 which amplifies the transmit signal based ona control signal 282 generated by the control unit 280. The controlsignal 282 controls an operation of the transmit/receive switch 253,transmit amplifier unit 270, a transmit/receive switch 264 and receiveamplifier unit 260.

In a transmit mode, the transmit amplifier unit 270 amplifies and sendsthe transmit signal 222 to a node 266 with switch 264 contacting node266. An antenna 290 transmits the transmit signal 222 to wirelessdevices within a certain range of the antenna 290. In receive mode, theantenna 290 receives a receive signal 261 from various wireless devices.The receive amplifier unit 260 amplifies and sends the receive signal261 to a node 254. The switch 252 switches to contact the node 254permitting the receive signal 261 to be received by diplexer 258 whichsends the receive signal 261 to the WAP 212. The switch 240 contacts anode 244 such that the receive signal 261 is received by the amplifier228. The receive signal 261 is amplified by the amplifier 228 whichsends this signal to the radio 220.

In one embodiment, the control unit 280 detects a state of a bit in thecontrol signal 218 transmitted from the WAP 212 to control the operationof the transmit amplifier unit 270 and the receive amplifier unit 260with the transmit signal 222 and the receive signal 261 operating onsubstantially the same frequency band. The transmit signal 222 andreceive signal 261 are transferred between the WAP 212 and the antennacircuit 250 via a coaxial network 246 at the native frequency generatedby the radio 220. The coaxial network 246 may include one or more cablelines and associated splitters.

In another embodiment, the control signal 218 includes a data channelthat controls the operation of the transmit amplifier unit 270 and thereceive amplifier unit 260. In a more elaborate system, the controlchannel may provide bi-directional communication. In this case severalenhancements may be possible. A transmit automatic gain control (AGC)may operate by reducing the power output of the multi-tonetransmitter-receiver, thus saving power. A loop back mode may then beactivated, and the multi-tone transmitter-receiver may measure the lossin the receive channel. The multi-tone transmitter-receiver may thensignal the remote receive amplifier to operate at an optimum gainsetting.

In some embodiments, the radio 220 and an associated processor remain inthe multi-tone transmitter-receiver 210. The coaxial network 246 is usedto transmit the analog RF 802.11 transmit signal 222 to the remote(indoor) antenna circuit 250. Analog amplifiers 260 and 270 located atthe antenna circuit 250 provide gain for transmission and reception.

In other embodiments, optional features include switches to control thesignal path for transmit and receive functions at the antenna circuit250. The control signal 218 originates at the multi-tonetransmitter-receiver 210 and controls the remote transmit-receiveswitches 252 and 264. The control channel may be bi-directional. Thecontrol signal 218 is further used to analyze a loss of the coaxialchannel. One or more gains of the amplifiers at one or both ends of thecoaxial network 246 are adjusted based on the discovered channelcharacteristic.

FIG. 3A shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a WAP located in amulti-tone transmitter-receiver. FIG. 3B shows a block diagram of anembodiment of an antenna circuit that extends a range of the WAP. In oneembodiment, the WAP 302 is coupled to the antenna circuit 350 via acoaxial line.

The WAP 302 includes a radio 310, a diplexer 320, an impedance matchblock 340 and amplifiers 314 and 334. In at least certain embodiments,the radio 310 generates a RF transmit signal 312 with a frequency rangeof 2 to 6 GigaHertz (GHz). The transmit signal 312 is sent from theradio 310 to the amplifier 314 to the diplexer 320 which also receives acontrol signal 318 that has been filtered by an auxiliary carrier filter316. The control signal 318 may be switched ‘on’ for transmit and ‘off’for receive. The control signal 318 may be carrier modulated inamplitude or in phase, or both. The control signal 318 may beintermittent, merely being present for transmission, or it may beconstant, with a data pattern encoded to signify transmit or receive.

The diplexer 320 combines the transmit signal 312 and the control signal318 and sends these signals to the transmit node 322 for transmission tothe impedance match block 340 if a switch 326 has been switched to atransmit position by contacting the node 322. In one embodiment, theimpedance match block 340 is a 75 ohm to 50 ohm match block. A 75 ohm Fconnector 342 connects to a coaxial cable that transfers the transmitsignal 312 and control signal 318 to a 75 ohm F connector 352 located inthe antenna circuit 350.

The antenna circuit 350 includes a diplexer 356, transmit amplifiers 374and 378 that amplify the transmit signal 312, receive amplifiers 388 and392 that amplify a receive signal 387, and control unit 369 thatreceives the control signal 318. The control unit 369 controls anoperation of the transmit amplifiers 374 and 378 and the receiveamplifiers 388 and 392 with a transmit/receive (T/R) control signal 372to extend a range of the WAP 302 with the antenna circuit 350.

The diplexer 356 sends the control signal 318 to the control unit 369and the transmit signal 312 to a node 359. If a transmit/receive switch360 contacts node 362 then the transmit signal 312 is received by thetransmit amplifiers 374 and 378 which amplify the transmit signal 312based on the T/R control signal 372 that controls an automatic gaincontroller (AGC) 380 and variable resistor 376. The control signal 322controls an operation of the transmit/receive switches 360 and 384,transmit amplifiers 374 and 378, receive amplifiers 388 and 392, and AGC380. The AGC 380 controls a gain of the transmit amplifier 378 based ona power detector D2 that detects the output power level of the transmitamplifier 378. The AGC 380 also controls a gain of the receive amplifier392 based on the gain of the transmit amplifiers.

In one embodiment, the control unit 369 includes detector logic 371 todetect a state of a bit in the control signal 318 transmitted from theWAP 302 to control the operation of the transmit and receive amplifierswith the transmit and receive signals operating on substantially thesame frequency band. The detector logic 371 may include a diode D1 andcapacitor C1.

In a transmit mode, the transmit amplifier 378 amplifies and sends thetransmit signal 312 to a node 382 with switch 384 contacting node 382.An antenna 398 transmits the transmit signal 312 to wireless deviceswithin a certain range of the antenna 398. In receive mode, the antenna398 receives a receive signal 261 from various wireless devices. Thereceive amplifiers 388 and 392 amplify and send the receive signal 387to a node 364. The switch 360 switches to contact the node 364permitting the receive signal 387 to be received by diplexer 356 whichsends the receive signal 387 to the WAP 302. In FIG. 3A, the switches326 and 332 contact a node 324 and a node 328, respectively, such thatthe receive signal 387 is received by the amplifier 334.

Prior approaches for providing a wireless LAN with a WAP have usedbi-directional 802.11 amplifiers with no control unit or signal. Abi-directional amplifier senses an incoming transmit power level anduses this to toggle between transmission and reception. These amplifiersrequire a high transmit input level of approximately 10 dBm which is anabbreviation for the power ratio in decibel (dB) of the measured inputpower referenced to one milliwatt (mW). Since the loss in the cablenetwork can be over 50 dB, this may require a transmit output power fromthe WAP 302 of 1 kilowatt (kW), an impractical level for this type ofmulti-tone transmitter-receiver. Also, it is difficult in such a systemto achieve optimum gain, because the loss in the coaxial cable isunknown. If the amplifiers provide an insufficient amount of gain, thenlow receive sensitivity and low transmit output power occurs. If theamplifiers provide an excessive amount of gain, then distortion resultswhich reduces the ability of the channel to carry information.

AGC circuits are problematic because the envelope of the 802.11 transmitsignal is non-uniform. The AGC may have to track it slowly. The receiveAGC is very difficult because different frames will arrive at differentsignal strengths, so the AGC must respond quickly to the received level.However, this fast response means that it may inadvertently track theenvelope of the desired signal. This may render the resultant amplified802.11 signal useless.

In one embodiment, the transmit signal 312 and received signal 387 eachhave a frequency range of 2 to 3 GHz which results in a high loss duringthe transfer across the coaxial cable between the WAP 302 and theantenna circuit 350. This control signal 318 typically has frequenciesin the passband of any splitters in the path between the WAP 302 and theantenna circuit 350. In this case, a transmit AGC 380 controls the gainof the remote amplifiers that provide a high dynamic range and gain. TheAGC value may be stored between transmissions. The response time of thetransmit AGC 380 may be very slow, so as to avoid tracking the envelopeof the transmit signal 312. Because the transmit level of the WAP 302 isknown, the value of the T/R control signal 372 indicates the loss in thecoaxial cable. Then, since the loss is symmetrical and fixed, the sameAGC level may be used to add or subtract attenuation from the receivesignal 387 as well. The AGC control of the transmit and receive signalsprovides a gain control method for the receive channel. Failure toadjust the receive gain may result in distortion due to too high asignal level, or excess noise due to too low a signal level.

In one embodiment, control unit 369 determines an amount of controlsignal loss from transmission of the control signal 318 over the coaxialline. The control unit 369 adjusts a gain of at least one of thetransmit amplifier 378 and the receive amplifier 392 located in theantenna circuit 350 in response to the determination of the amount ofthe control signal loss. The control unit 369 may adjust a gain of atleast one of the transmit amplifier 314 and the receive amplifier 334located in the WAP 302 in response to the determination of the controlsignal loss.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of control unit located inan antenna circuit that extends a range of a WAP. The control unit 400includes an amplifier 410, a detector 440, and a comparator 450. Theamplifier 410 includes resistors 414, 422, 424, 428, capacitors 416,418, 430, 434, inductor 432, and transistor 426. The amplifier 410amplifies and filters the control signal 402 received from WAP 302. Thetransistor 426 may be configured as a standard common emitter amplifier.An inductance value of the inductor 432 is chosen to resonate with anoutput capacitance of the transistor 426. This is a way of using aninexpensive transistor to achieve high gain at a frequency of thecontrol signal 402 with a range of 10 to 1000 MHz. The amplifier 410amplifies the control signal 402 to a high enough voltage to be detectedby a diode 442 of the detector 440. At the same time, the amplifier 410rejects out-of-band signals, such as the 802.11 transmit signal 312,which operates at a much higher frequency in a range of 2 to 6 GHz.

The detector 440 includes the diode 442, a capacitor 446, and a resistor444. In the presence of a large control signal 402, the diode 442rectifies the control signal 402 and the voltage on the capacitor 446exceeds a supply voltage of the control unit 400. The comparator 450compares the rectified voltage on the capacitor 446 to a referencevoltage developed by a resistor or other similar means. If the rectifiedvoltage exceeds the reference voltage, the comparator output changesstate, thus controlling the RF switches and RF amplifiers illustrated inFIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 5A shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a WAP located in acommunication gateway. FIG. 5B shows a block diagram of an embodiment ofan antenna circuit that extends a range of the WAP 500. In oneembodiment, the WAP 500 is coupled to the antenna circuit 550 via acoaxial line.

The communication gateway 106 may be a wide area network, digitalsubscriber line, or other similar gateway that provides an interfacecombined with various wide and/or local area networking (LAN)technologies to enable sharing the broadband access with other computersor devices. The communication gateway 106 may have a WAP 108 or similarWAP 500 that is located in the NID 104 which is coupled to the DSLAM102. The NID 104 has an input to receive a signal from the DSLAM 102with the signal being carried across a public telephone network asillustrated in FIG. 1.

In some embodiments, multiple antenna circuits 550, each utilize adifferent receive frequency on the coaxial line, but not on theairwaves, in order to provide a local area with good radio coverage. TheWAP 500 in the NID 104 can listen to all of the multiple antennacircuits 550 in turn. The WAP 500 transmits to all of the multipleantenna circuits 550 simultaneously. Hence, isolated remote users willnot transmit unless they are allowed to do so by the WAP 500.

The WAP 500 includes a radio 502, an oscillator 504, and localoscillators 508, 510, 514, and 518 that each generate a signal to bemixed in a frequency converter 526 or 540. In at least certainembodiments, the radio 502 generates a RF transmit signal 524 with afrequency range of 2000 to 6000 MegaHertz (MHz). The transmit signal 524is sent from the radio 502 to the frequency converter 526 to be mixedwith a signal 521 received from the local oscillator 508. In oneembodiment, the frequency converter 526 generates or converts a signal528 with a frequency range of 60-80 MHz based on the signal 524 having afrequency range of 2400-2474 MHz and the signal 521 having a frequencyof approximately 2367 MHz. In some embodiments, the frequency converter526 may produce the sum and difference of the signals 521 and 524 andthen remove the sum signal with a filter in order to generate thedifference signal 528. An amplifier 530 sends the signal 528 to a node532 for transmission to the antenna circuit 550 when the switch 533contacts the node 532. A connector 534 connects to a coaxial cable thattransfers the signal 528 from one or more ports 533 of the WAP 500 to aconnector 552 coupled to the antenna circuit 550. The frequencyconverter 526 converts a frequency of the signal 524 into a frequency ofthe signal 528 in order to minimize the attenuation caused by thecoaxial cable and associated splitters that transfer the signal 528 fromthe WAP 500 to the antenna circuit 550. Thus, less gain is required fromany transmit amplifier such as the amplifiers 530, 558, and 566.

The antenna circuit 550 includes one or more ports 553, a diplexer 554,transmit amplifiers 558 and 566 that amplify a signal 556 and a signal564, respectively, and receive amplifiers 572 and 582 that amplify asignal 574 and a signal 580, respectively. The diplexer 554 sends thesignal 556 to the amplifier 558 that amplifies and sends the signal 556to a frequency converter 560. A signal 564 is generated by the frequencyconverter 560 based on a frequency of the signal 556 and a frequency ofa signal 561 generated by a local oscillator 562.

In one embodiment, the frequency converter 560 generates the signal 564with a frequency range of 2400-2480 MHz based on the signal 556 having afrequency range of 1400-1480 MHz and the signal 561 having a frequencyof approximately 1000 MHz. The amplifier 566 sends the signal 564 to atransmit antenna 568. One or more wireless devices within a certainrange of the antenna 568 receive the signal 564. The one or morewireless devices may also transmit communications to a receive antenna570 that sends these communications in the form of one or more receivesignals 571 to the amplifier 572. A converter 572 generates a signal 580based on a frequency of the signal 574 and a frequency of a signal 577generated by a local oscillator 578.

In one embodiment, the frequency converter 576 generates the signal 580with a frequency range of 1000-1080 MHz based on the signal 574 having afrequency range of 2400-2480 MHz and the signal 578 having a frequencyof approximately 1400 MHz. In another embodiment, the frequencyconverter 576 generates the signal 580 with a frequency range of1100-1180 MHz based on the signal 574 having a frequency range of2400-2480 MHz and the signal 578 having a frequency of approximately1300 MHz. In another embodiment, the frequency converter 576 generatesthe signal 580 with a frequency range of 1200-1280 MHz based on thesignal 574 having a frequency range of 2400-2480 MHz and the signal 578having a frequency of approximately 1200 MHz. In at least certainembodiments, multiple frequencies across a cable or coaxial line may beemployed. In the case of the receive direction, multiple remote antennacircuits 550 all simultaneously transmit on the cable at differentfrequencies.

Multiple antenna circuits 550 may simultaneously operate with each onegenerating a different frequency range or band as discussed above forthe generated signal 580. The amplifier 582 sends the signal 580 to thediplexer 554 for transferring back to the WAP 500 via the connector 552and the coaxial cable.

The frequency converter 576 converts a frequency range or band of thesignal 574 into a frequency range or band of the signal 580 in order tominimize the attenuation of the coaxial cable and associated splittersthat transfer the signal 580 from the antenna circuit 550 to the WAP500. Thus, less gain is required from any receive amplifier such as theamplifiers 572, 582, and 538.

In FIG. 5A, the connector 534 receives the signal 580 which is receivedby the amplifier 538 if the switch 533 contacts a node 536. Theamplifier 538 amplifies and sends a signal 539 to the frequencyconverter 540 based on the signal 580.

In one embodiment, the frequency converter 540 generates the signal 542with a frequency range of 2400-2480 MHz based on the signal 539 having afrequency range of 1000-1080 MHz and a signal 541 having a frequency ofapproximately 1400 MHz. In another embodiment, the frequency converter540 generates the signal 542 with a frequency range of 2400-2480 MHzbased on the signal 539 having a frequency range of 1100-1180 MHz andthe signal 541 having a frequency of approximately 1300 MHz. In anotherembodiment, the frequency converter 540 generates the signal 542 with afrequency range of 2400-2480 MHz based on the signal 539 having afrequency range of 1200-1280 MHz and the signal 541 having a frequencyof approximately 1200 MHz. Switch 522 or other means can be used toselect a frequency for signal 541 based on the frequency range of thesignal 539. The frequency converter 540 sends the signal 542 to theradio 502. The signal 542 can be transmitted across a public telephoneline to a DSLAM 102 as illustrated in FIG. 1.

In a heterodyne frequency scheme illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B, theradio signals are sent through a coaxial line in a frequency band lowerthan the frequency band generated by the radio 502. Typically this lowerfrequency band will be a frequency in the range of 50 MHz to 1500 MHz.The coaxial line and associated splitters in a building or residencehave less attenuation at these frequencies, so less gain is required inthe amplifiers. Then, the radio signal 556 is converted to the desiredfrequency as illustrated in FIG. 5B.

In the case of transmission from the DSL communication gateway 106, thedesired frequency may be in one of the standard ISM bands, 2400-2474 MHzor 5 GHz. In the case of reception by the DSL communication gateway 106,the conversion may be up to those same bands, or with a speciallyadapted radio, it may be to an intermediate frequency or to a basebandfrequency.

Further, in the heterodyne frequency scheme, the transmit and receivepaths do not need to be on the same frequency. If the transmit andreceive paths are sufficiently separate in frequency, then both a remotereceive amplifier and a remote transmit amplifier may be alwaysactivated without undesirable oscillation occurring. Thus, no controlsignal is required to switch between transmit and receive.

Separate transmit and receive antennas may be employed as illustrated inFIG. 5B, or the receiver and transmitter may share them by means of acombiner or circulator. In the case where there is no out-of-bandcontrol signal, it may nevertheless be necessary for each end of thelink to learn about the gain required. This may be accomplished in-bandby special transmission sequences which may cause a remote station suchas the antenna circuit 550 to enter a loop-back mode. Gain may then beadjusted to achieve optimum performance. Further, in the heterodynefrequency scheme, multiple remote antenna circuits may be deployedthroughout a building. Each remote circuit 550 may operate on adifferent frequency. The DSL communication gateway 106 may contain meansto receive one of these different frequencies at a given instant intime. The DSL communication gateway 106 may select the frequency withthe highest quality signal or based on some other criteria such as around robin sequence.

The transmit amplifiers may all operate on the same frequency, and alltransmit simultaneously. It may not be necessary to employ a controlscheme if the transmit intermediate frequency is sufficiently differentfrom the receive intermediate frequency. Each amplifier may operate at afixed gain. This gain may have to be set to avoid distortion on pathswith very little attenuation. Thus paths with more attenuation maysuffer excess loss.

A better scheme may be to employ the control scheme as described inFIGS. 3A and 3B, with modification. An optional AGC may modify the gainof transmit amplifiers as previously discussed. However, the transmitAGC value should not be used to adjust the receive gain, because thereceive frequency on the cable is likely to be different from thetransmit frequency on the cable. In this case, a loopback mode, asdescribed above, may be necessary. First, the correct transmit gains maybe established. Then, a loopback adjustment based on the loopback modemay be entered and the receive gain may be adjusted. A remote controlcircuit may consist of either a small microcontroller or a statemachine, along with the associated demodulator and modulator. The bestplace to adjust the receive channel gain is at a remote receiveamplifier such as amplifiers 572 and/or 580 because this saves powercompared to adjusting the receive gain at the DSL communication gateway106. Similarly, the best place to adjust the transmit channel gain is ata transmit amplifier of the DSL communication gateway 106 such asamplifier 530.

FIG. 6 shows a method for providing a wireless LAN with a WAP. Themethod 600 includes sending a control signal and a transmit signal froma wireless access point to at least one remote antenna circuit at block602. Each remote antenna circuit includes a transmit amplifier unit, areceive amplifier unit, and control unit to receive the control signal.The method 600 further includes amplifying the transmit signal with thetransmit amplifier unit at block 604. The method 600 further includessending the transmit signal from at least one remote antenna circuit toa wireless device at block 606. The method 600 further includes sendinga receive signal from the wireless device to at least one remote antennacircuit at block 608. The method 600 further includes amplifying thereceive signal with the receive amplifier unit at block 610. The method600 further includes controlling an operation of the transmit and thereceive amplifier units to extend a range of the wireless access pointat block 612. The method 600 further includes sending the receive signalfrom each remote antenna circuit to the wireless access point located ina multi-tone transmitter-receiver at block 614.

Although the operations of the method(s) herein are shown and describedin a particular order, the order of the operations of each method may bealtered so that certain operations may be performed in an inverse orderor so that certain operation may be performed, at least in part,concurrently with other operations. In another embodiment, instructionsor sub-operations of distinct operations may be in an intermittentand/or alternating manner.

Thus, according to embodiments of the present disclosure, systems andmethods for extending a range of a WAP with one or more remote antennacircuits are described. In one embodiment, at least one remote antennacircuit receives a control signal and a transmit signal transmitted fromthe WAP located in a multi-tone transmitter-receiver. Each remoteantenna circuit includes a transmit amplifier unit that amplifies thetransmit signal, a receive amplifier unit that amplifies a receivesignal, and control unit that receives the control signal generated bythe WAP. The control unit controls an operation of the transmit and thereceive amplifier units to extend the range of the WAP with the at leastone remote antenna circuit. In another embodiment, a heterodynefrequency scheme provides communications between the WAP and each remoteantenna without control unit for controlling transmit and receiveamplifier units.

While some specific embodiments of the disclosure have been shown thedisclosure is not to be limited to these embodiments. For example, mostfunctions performed by electronic hardware components may be duplicatedby software emulation. Thus, a software program written to accomplishthose same functions may emulate the functionality of the hardwarecomponents. The hardware logic may consist of electronic circuits thatfollow the rules of Boolean Logic, software that contain patterns ofinstructions, or any combination of both. The disclosure is to beunderstood as not limited by the specific embodiments described herein,but only by scope of the appended claims.

1. A system comprising: a network interface device (NID) having a widearea network communication gateway with an wireless access point thathas a first frequency converter to convert a transmit signal with afirst frequency band into a second frequency band; an input to receivethe transmit signal from a digital subscriber loop access multiplexerwith the transmit signal carried across a public telephone network tothe NID; and one or more ports of the wireless access point to transmitthe transmit signal to at least one antenna circuit coupled to the widearea network communication gateway via a coaxial cable, one or moreports of each antenna circuit to receive the transmit signal from theone or more ports of the wireless access point and to convert the secondfrequency band into the first frequency band with a second frequencyconverter, an antenna of each antenna circuit to receive a receivesignal with the first frequency band and to convert the first frequencyband into a third frequency band with a third frequency converter, thereceive signal is sent to the wireless access point, the second andthird frequency bands are selected to minimize the attenuation of thetransmit and receive signals between the wireless access point and eachantenna circuit.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein each antenna circuitto extend a range of the wireless access point located in the wide areanetwork communication gateway that is a digital subscriber linecommunication gateway.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein each antennacircuit comprises the third frequency converter to convert the receivesignal with the first frequency band into one of a plurality offrequency bands with each one of the plurality of frequency bands beingassociated with a different antenna circuit.
 4. The system of claim 3,wherein each antenna circuit further comprises: one or more transmitamplifiers to amplify the transmit signal; and one or more receiveamplifiers to amplify the receive signal.
 5. The system of claim 4,wherein each one of the plurality of frequency bands associated with thereceive signal of a different antenna circuit is different than thesecond frequency band of the transmit signal in order to providecommunication between the wireless access point and each remote antennawithout control unit to control the transmit and receive amplifiers. 6.The system of claim 1, wherein each antenna circuit further comprises anautomatic gain controller to control a gain of the one or more transmitamplifiers based on a power detector detecting the output power level ofthe one or more transmit amplifiers.
 7. The system of claim 6, whereinthe automatic gain controller to control a gain of the one or morereceive amplifiers based on the gain of the one or more transmitamplifiers and a loopback adjustment.
 8. An apparatus, comprising: meansfor sending a control signal and a transmit signal from a wirelessaccess point to at least one remote antenna circuit via a coaxial linewith each remote antenna circuit having a transmit amplifier unit toamplify the transmit signal, a receive amplifier unit to amplify areceive signal, and control unit to receive the control signal; meansfor determining an amount of control signal loss from transmission ofthe control signal over the coaxial line; means for adjusting a gain ofat least one of the transmit amplifier unit and the receive amplifierunit located in the remote antenna circuit in response to thedetermination of the amount of the control signal loss; and means forsending the receive signal from each remote antenna circuit to thewireless access point located in a multi-tone transmitter-receiver. 9.The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising: means for adjusting a gainof at least one of a transmit amplifier unit and a receive amplifierunit located in the wireless access point in response to thedetermination of the control signal loss.